UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) Stake Lessened by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its position in shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,921,485 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 787,138 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.40% of UBS Group worth $395,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UBS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of UBS Group in the 4th quarter worth $5,594,066,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in UBS Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,886,868 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,915,512,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296,428 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in UBS Group by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 34,979,795 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,070,335,000 after acquiring an additional 5,555,624 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of UBS Group by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 16,751,961 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $543,936,000 after purchasing an additional 95,712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of UBS Group by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 16,445,068 shares of the bank’s stock worth $502,398,000 after purchasing an additional 301,394 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas raised UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets upgraded UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UBS Group presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Price Performance

UBS opened at $30.37 on Wednesday. UBS Group AG has a 12-month low of $26.01 and a 12-month high of $35.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.98 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $33.50 and a 200-day moving average of $32.30.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $11.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.90 billion. UBS Group had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 6.93%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.09) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 16th. This is an increase from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. This represents a yield of 2.1%. UBS Group’s payout ratio is presently 14.47%.

About UBS Group

UBS Group AG provides financial advice and solutions to private, institutional, and corporate clients worldwide. It operates through five divisions: Global Wealth Management, Personal & Corporate Banking, Asset Management, Investment Bank, and Non-core and Legacy. The company offers investment advice, estate and wealth planning, investing, corporate and banking, and investment management, as well as mortgage, securities-based, and structured lending solutions.